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Los Angeles Lakers: Predicting where each free agent will sign

By Jason Reed

DALLAS, TX - FEBRUARY 10: Isaiah Thomas #7 of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots as the Lakers play the Dallas Mavericks in the second half at American Airlines Center on February 10, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. The Mavericks won 130-123. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - FEBRUARY 10: Isaiah Thomas #7 of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots as the Lakers play the Dallas Mavericks in the second half at American Airlines Center on February 10, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. The Mavericks won 130-123. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

Julius Randle: Dallas Mavericks

Do we want the Los Angeles Lakers to match the offer sheet that Julius Randle and the Dallas Mavericks agree to this summer? Absolutely, we are all for the Lakers succeeding and Randle would be a key instrument in that success. However, while it would be nice to see Randle return in the purple and gold, we think there is more of a chance that he plays elsewhere in 2018.

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The Mavericks are interested in Randle after all and are one of the few teams that can compete with the Lakers this summer in terms of cap space. And while the Lakers still have more than twice the practical cap space available, they are also held down by the thing they freed the space up for: superstars.

Quite frankly, it is going to be very hard for the Los Angeles Lakers to re-sign Randle as well as sign two max guys and maintain bench depth. In an ideal world, the team would stretch Luol Deng‘s contract and utilize the Bird Rights on Randle to add to two max guys and other signed superstars.

However, the chances of the ideal situation happening are definitely slim. The Lakers seemingly already acknowledged that this is a realistic possibility after drafting power forward Moritz Wagner in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft.

With Kyle Kuzma also on the roster, the Dodgers should be fine without Randle. Kuzma is more than a solid replacement for Randle and could even progress into a better overall player.

Next: Lakers: Top 30 Greatest Players of All-Time

With Luka Doncic now running the offense and a slew of other role players, the Mavericks should be going all-in on competing this summer. If that means signing Randle and trading for DeAndre Jordan, then the Mavericks will be good for a very long time.

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